Terps' asisstant coach Russell Payne may soon be headed to West Point, N.Y., to lead Army.

Terrapin men’s soccer assistant coach Russell Payne is under consideration for the vacant head coaching job at Army, according to various media reports.

Payne, who is in his fifth season with the Terps, first surfaced as a candidate earlier this week when The Washington Post reporter Steven Goff wrote that Payne had been approached by the Black Knights.

Payne joined the Terps’ coaching staff in 2005 after professional stints abroad in Ireland and Germany. In his five seasons on the coaching staff, the Terps have amassed a 66-21-6 record and have won two National Championships.

The Columbia, Md., native started for four years under Cirovski as the Terps’ goalkeeper beginning in 1993. As a senior, Payne led the ACC in goals-against average as he guided the Terps to their first-ever ACC Tournament championship.

Army is seeking a replacement for Kurt Swanbeck, who was not retained by Athletics Director Kevin Anderson after a 1-14-1 record this season, including an o-7 mark in the Patriot League. Swanbeck, who compiled a 35-88-16 record in eight years with the Black Knights, failed to lead Army to an NCAA Tournament Appearance during his tenure in West Point, N.Y.

We’ll keep you updated as this story develops.

Jonas Shaffer is The Diamondback’s men’s soccer beat writer. He can be reached at shaffer@umdbk.com. Follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/jonas_shaffer.

This entry was posted on Friday, December 11th, 2009 at 6:03 pm and is filed under Sports. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.